Sunday, December 29, 2013

Well, first things first:
I really loved this book! Sorry, but I had to unabashedly get this off
my chest. Here is the erudite philosophical self-help book that I
always intended to write, but was beaten to it, and then some. Its
full title is even longer than (yet quite similar to) my own blog
address: Philosophy for Life and other
Dangerous Situations: Ancient Philosophy for Modern Problems.
And its author Jules Evans is uncountable steps ahead of my idea to
start a philosophy support group that cherishes life's joys and
mysteries. All said and done! To make matters worse, he is the same
age as me (actually I believe he is younger)!

But the similarities do
not end there. Here is an excellent and resourceful book that
examines the history of ideas with a focus on ancient Greek and early
Roman philosophers and relates it all directly to the practice of
modern daily life. All of this is done with a healthy sense of humor
that does not distract but only adds to its philosophical weight and
significance.

The journalist-philosopher
Jules Evans treats philosophy very seriously and with passionate
enthusiasm. When he claims that philosophy is for
life (both crucial for one's existence and as
a lifelong practice), he really means it. Philosophy has, if not
saved his life, at least given him purpose and direction for his own
existence. The practical aspects and emotional benefits of philosophy
are examined by looking at how it has influenced psychology and how
there are a number of direct offshoots of the Socratic
method, including CBT (Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy) and Positive Psychology to name a few.

In fact, CBT functions on
the following assumptions that go back to the great Greek philosopher
Socrates. The first step is to try to know oneself through vigorous
and relentless questioning of one's core beliefs. Once our automatic,
subconscious and irrational beliefs come to the foreground, they are
rationally analyzed and if valid, accepted; if not, they are
discarded and replaced with a new way of thinking. The final step is
to continue this new behavior until it becomes automatic and part of
one's core identity.

This seems rather simple,
but it is very difficult to do as we may lack complete honesty,
resolution and / or discipline to follow through. For example, let us
say that you are socially anxious and think that people are always
thinking negatively about you. Then, you would check this belief for
its validity. Is it true or it is merely your own fear or your own
lack of acceptance of yourself projected onto others?

If it is true, then you
might need to evaluate reasons why you are not liked or accepted and
perhaps adjust your behavior accordingly. If it is all in your head,
then you might want to change your negative ways of thinking and
replace them with a more positive and, of course, more realistic
outlook of how things are (it is indeed quite unrealistic and
counterproductive to want to be liked by everyone!). Many focus too
much on their failings and let their many successes go by unnoticed
or simply shrug them off as matters of sheer luck, which only fosters
negativity and low self-esteem.

All of this seems most
useful for those who are suffering from depression or have had
traumatic experiences in the past. One of the things that one learns
is to see the world from a different and more rationally balanced
perspective. For instance, there are things that we are responsible
for, mistakes we have made in the past, both big and small. Sure, but
that does not mean that one should club oneself over the head for the
rest of one's life. At some point, one has to accept it, try to
rectify it (if possible) and then move on.

The strange thing about
the past is that it is not real. It is emotional baggage that we
carry around with us, and it is to a large part our own choice and
decision, whether we realize this or not. However, unless we deal
with it effectively, it will always come and haunt us and become a
self-fulfilling prophecy. If you have had your share of abusive
relationships, it is important to focus on the opportunities of the
here and now instead of harboring on your negative experiences of the
past.

In this book, there are
real life examples of people who have been sexually abused as
children. This is a horrendous experience that I think must be rather
impossible to shake off. But this is not about repression or denial.
What happens is that victims tend to internalize the blame and see
themselves somehow responsible for what has happened to them.

This goes hand in hand
with the belief that everything that happens to us is our own doing
or rather undoing. But that is definitely not true. There are many
events and setbacks that are completely out of our control. For
example, it seems silly to think that we can control the weather,
that we can make it rain or shine. It is equally absurd to believe
that we are responsible for today's thunderstorm. Along the same
vein, the child did not seek sexual attention, but was abused by
others. That child is not responsible for those horrible experiences
and must not believe it to be so.

I think the fact that we
can let go of the past and not be too obsessed about the future can
give us a tremendous amount of legroom and freedom. It is breaking
the karmic cycle, the negative loopy prison we have gotten used to
and caught up in. We can start anew, at anytime, but especially right
now. Of course, we cannot create miracles, but we can eventually get
somewhere one thought at a time.

This is where Stoicism
becomes quite relevant. I have previously blogged about how stoicism can change our life, and Jules Evans not only agrees with me but puts
it into clearer perspective. His journalistic quest gives us ordinary
people from different walks of life (including soldiers, gangsters,
astronauts, and anarchists to name a few) for whom stoicism has made
a substantial impact.

Again, we may not be able
to control our environment or things that happen to us, i.e. our fate
or destiny, but we can channel our reactions towards them. Evans gives
us examples of resilient war prisoners who have even endured torture.
Their core beliefs in Stoic philosophy has given them the strength
not only to withstand the pains and pressure, but to survive these
experiences. They did not break down mentally; they did not let the
enemy get inside their heads, and despite all the traumas they came out as
victors.

One may think of examples
of martyrs who withstood pain and death to the very end without
giving up or renouncing their beliefs and ideas. It is true that
Christianity was strongly influenced by and consciously embraced
philosophical strands of Stoicism. In fact, Stoics believed in a kind
of unalterable fate ruled by a mysterious Logos and that
whatever happens to us needs to be accepted without complaint, just
like Job had to go through numerous slings and arrows of misfortune
and somehow made it through them all.

But this insightful book
does not merely look at the Socratic method or Stoicism (they are
merely appetizers here), but it comes as a complete menu that
includes delightful dishes, including Epicureanist, Platonist,
Aristotelian and Cynic morsels, flavors and spices. Jules Evans also
successfully made me see that Heraclitus is not the material
philosopher I took him to be, but that he was actually rather mystic
in his views.

We also meet the Skeptics,
and their current growth and offshoot linked with atheism and based
and fed on by science. They fight against religion with rather
crusade-like fervor and with at times equally dangerous dogma. One
thing that science must have learned from its history is that facts
do no always remain facts but can easily be replaced by other facts
and that our knowledge is tentative. Hence you cannot be completely
sure of anything and real skeptics ought to be skeptical of that and
subscribe more to its agnostic sibling instead of dismissing religion as a
whole.

Rarely has philosophy been
so much fun and easy to follow (just like Arash's World?)
and it is amazing how much information is condensed and distilled in
these 200+ pages. In fact, Evans has done his research, and he also
aptly and suavely references current pop media and film (anywhere
from Star Wars to E.T. to Memento) as well as
politics. He summarizes the beauty and magic of ancient Greek
philosophy without dusty jargon but with pulsating lifeblood. He is
not spoon-feeding you philosophical opinions and does not have hidden
agendas (except perhaps to make you appreciate philosophy more).

In fact, this book gives
you the option to choose to set your own moral compass or dance to
your own philosophical tune with whoever is to your liking. At the
same time, Evans scrutinizes and evaluates each branch or movement in
an unbiased and balanced manner and gives each philosopher a fair
hearing. There is much to be learned and commended by this. It is a
book that poses the question how one should live and offers different
viable interpretations to select from. It is a book of enormous
value in a world where values need to be valued more than ever.

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Goodreads

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